Your quote process

Jason_Batten

I have been searching around for information on how to achieve the most accurate and detailed quote I can for web design but it hasn't been easy. So here I am asking about what works for you? How do you obtain the most accurate and detailed quote for your clients? What process do you go through to get it?

cretaceous

What else can you do but estimate how long it will take, add a percentage for things not working out as you expected (25% to 50%), add a profit margin that you think is reasonable..
and even then it will probably take longer than you costed for

If you mean getting other people to quote prices to you - you need to be precise and clear in stating what you expect - which of course is impossible if you havent got a clear description of what is needed from the client

Meetings, phone calls, uploading, re-uploading, documenting it, explaining it, it all takes time and as for wasting time on forums...

A former business partner used to think of a price off the top of his head, usually lacking real experience - "that sounds like a £5,000 job" he'd say - he seems to get away with it and drives a fast car, so...

pohopo

edit I dont know why I even bother to explain.

LoganK

I usually first start out by creating a small part of what the client wants. From that, I calculate/estimate how long the rest will take. Next, I see how much money I can burn through in that amount of time, and set that as the base price for the entire job. Divide by the total number of hours, and I have an hourly rate. Add somewhere between $20 and $75 to make myself feel good, and present it all in a spreadsheet all formated-nicely.

Jason_Batten

LoganK wrote:
I usually first start out by creating a small part of what the client wants. From that, I calculate/estimate how long the rest will take. Next, I see how much money I can burn through in that amount of time, and set that as the base price for the entire job. Divide by the total number of hours, and I have an hourly rate. Add somewhere between $20 and $75 to make myself feel good, and present it all in a spreadsheet all formated-nicely.

Read a quote from the webmasters business masters course below.

Special warning. One of the mistakes that beginning designers make is to design the clients new site during the proposal phase. Don't do this! Prospective clients do not always become paying clients. Sometimes they change their minds and decide not to get a site at all. Sometimes, they find someone cheaper. And very often, they are just gathering pricing information and have no intention of getting a website.

There is more on the topic and I can tell you from personal expierence that doing work and not getting paid for it is sh*t :glare: I have a wonderful template here waiting for the client to give me content. I didn't follow a correct process at the time. A mistake I will not make again. I will be sure to ask for a 33% advance 😉

As for 20 - 75 extra, well add a zero or maybe two or three (depends on the project size and your skill) to the end of those prices. That is if you dont want to starve in the gutter. Naturally dont rip people off, got to have ethics and morals.

LoganK

NetNerd85 wrote:
Read a quote from the webmasters business masters course below.

I noticed that link in your sig for a while now. I ignored it because I thought was one of those many other spam "free download" offers out there (I saw one once with 20 pages on text, all on one HTML page). I'll check it out.

NetNerd85 wrote:
There is more on the topic and I can tell you from personal expierence that doing work and not getting paid for it is sht :glare: I have a wonderful template here waiting for the client to give me content. I didn't follow a correct process at the time. A mistake I will not make again. I will be sure to ask for a 33% advance 😉

I don't like that feeling either - that's why I only do a little* of the work. That way A), I have something as a demo to show the client, hopefully to convince him, or 😎 if he doesn't accept, at least I've got a new code snippet I can add to my collection, and honestly, who around here doesn't enjoy PHP coding? 😉

NetNerd85 wrote:
As for 20 - 75 extra, well add a zero or maybe two or three (depends on the project size and your skill) to the end of those prices. That is if you dont want to starve in the gutter. Naturally dont rip people off, got to have ethics and morals.

I'd love to add 3 zeros on to that last number! However, I don't like ripping people off, and I'm afraid my morals/ethics do restrict me from adding on much higher than that. Because in mind, it's like saying, "OK, I can do this for the client for $300. And now I'll make him pay an extra $250 just for the hell of it". I don't feel write doing that.

And don't worry, I won't starve. I'm not a "trust fund baby", but I do have a small reservoir of money which I can always utilize, thanks to some smart ideas back in my younger years.

Jason_Batten

LoganK wrote:
I noticed that link in your sig for a while now. I ignored it because I thought was one of those many other spam "free download" offers out there (I saw one once with 20 pages on text, all on one HTML page). I'll check it out.

Who around here doesn't enjoy PHP coding? 😉

I'd love to add 3 zeros on to that last number! However, I don't like ripping people off, and I'm afraid my morals/ethics do restrict me from adding on much higher than that. Because in mind, it's like saying, "OK, I can do this for the client for $300. And now I'll make him pay an extra $250 just for the hell of it". I don't feel write doing that.

The article is a spam for another service but they don't pimp it too much. Can't believe I just used that word. Damn MTV. The article has a lot of valuable information. I wouldn't put it in my signature if it wasn't helpful.

I enjoy PHP coding, meh I enjoy coding or typing or something! but I love commas 😉

Theres a fine line between you ripping them off and them ripping you off. How long and how much effort have you put in to learning the skills you have. How many services do you offer, how many services do you offer and dont know about. 365 days in a year, 52 weeks, 12 months. How long does it take for you to build a website? How many do you think you can build a year? If you honestly do your best work then why not reward yourself. Say you build 12 sites a year. Now if you charge 500 per site you earned a wopping 6000 that year. WOOT why not go work at McDonalds? They have hats. Now if you charge 3000 per site thats 12 x 3000 which is 36000. Now that is starting too look like good money, isn't it?

If you look at some of the utter sh*t some webmasters make for people. Some things are nice looking but lack content or the style of the site doesn't even match the business. OMG it is horrible. Some times it is the clients fault. It inspires me to be a better webmaster.

LoganK

I knew it! I always see spam when I see it! But I'll check it out anyway...

I'll take your points into consideration; I don't think I ever thought of it that way. I definitely agree with your last point - sometimes other webmaster's work just suck. Some things just don't look good, with good content, while others are over-the-top with flashing lights, banners, sounds, flash, etc. It makes me think I'm back in Vegas again. And yes, sometimes It is the clients fault - I had a client who made me build their site, only to have the client go out 2 months later, and buy another site, and then tell me to update the existing site to match the new one. :eek: